This invention relates generally to the determination of dynamic physical properties of materials, based on in-situ measurements.
The measurement of material resistance to indentation to determine a static hardness property, is generally well known in the art as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,026 to Howard et al. The determination of physical property of material by indentation thereof to obtain a readout of dynamic data by a comparative measurement technique as a function of many geometric variables, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,948 to George et al. As to measurements obtained from material undergoing vibratory deformation for determination of dynamic property characteristics, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,352,292 and 4,418,573 to Madigosky et al. are most relevant. However, the apparatus and methods disclosed in the latter patents are incapable of determining dynamic property data directly from material measurements performed in situ, or to determine the state of cure or rate of cure of the material being so measured.
Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide apparatus and method for rapid, in situ measurement of materials in a dynamic monitoring regime and yet provide absolute value data on material properties as a time dependent function.
In accordance with the foregoing objective, it is another object of the present invention to measure and determine characteristic properties of materials in manufacturing environments, including the provision of dynamic physical property data on materials undergoing a curing process.